Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player who plays for UMMC Ekaterinburg of Russia.[1] She played eleven seasons with the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA and in 2011 was voted one of the Top 15 all-time players in WNBA history by fans.

Taurasi grew up in Chino, California. Taurasi's father, Mario, was born in Italy, and raised in Argentina. He has been a professional football player in Italy,[2] and played for several years as a goalie. Diana Taurasi's mother, Liliana, is Argentinian. Mario and Liliana Taurasi emigrated from Argentina to the United States before Diana was born. She has an older sister named Jessika.

Taurasi also received many personal accolades at UConn including the 2003 and 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, and the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year award.[8] In addition to the national recognition she received during her time at UConn, Taurasi was held in legendary status by many Connecticut fans. For example, state senator Thomas Gaffey nominated her to join Prudence Crandall as the state's heroine.[9] She averaged 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in her collegiate career. During her time at UConn, her team compiled a record of 139 wins and 8 losses. Diana was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.[10]

Following her collegiate career, Taurasi was selected first overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury, a team that went 8–26 in the 2003 season. At times in her career, she had to play forward because there were shorter players in the starting five on her team. However, she mainly plays guard.

In her WNBA debut, Taurasi netted 26 points and led the Mercury to an 84–76 victory over the Seattle Storm. For the season, the rookie averaged 17.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Although the Mercury did not qualify for the playoffs, Taurasi was named to the Western Conference All Star team and won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award.

In 2005, Taurasi averaged 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while battling an ankle injury. She was an All Star for the second straight year, but the Mercury faded down the stretch and again missed the playoffs.

Former NBA coach Paul Westhead became the Mercury's head coach prior to the 2006 season and brought his up-tempo style to Phoenix. Their roster was further bolstered by the addition of rookie Cappie Pondexter, the #2 overall selection in the 2006 WNBA Draft.

Taurasi at the White House

Taurasi flourished under Westhead's system, leading the league in scoring and earning a third straight trip to the All Star Game. She broke Katie Smith's league records for points in a season (741 during the 2006 season) and is tied with Lauren Jackson for most points in a game (47 vs. Houston on August 10). In 2006, Taurasi averaged a record 25.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. The Mercury finished 18–16, but after losing a tie-breaker with Houston and Seattle, missed the playoffs.

Taurasi was a member of the USA women's 2004, 2008 and 2012 gold medal Olympic Basketball Teams.[11][12]

In the 2009 season, Taurasi was named the WNBA MVP and later led the Phoenix Mercury to its second WNBA championship in three years by beating the Indiana Fever, three games to two, as Taurasi was named the WNBA Finals MVP. Taurasi is one of only two players (the other being Cynthia Cooper-Dyke), to win the season scoring title, the season MVP award, a WNBA Championship and the finals MVP in the same season.[13] In 2011, alongside being selected to her 7th All-WNBA First Team,[14] she was voted one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA by fans.[15]

Entering the 2014 season, Taurasi is 2nd in WNBA history in points per game, 5th in career points and 9th in career assists. In the 2014 season the Phoenix Mercury finished 29-5 earning the top seed in the western conference, they advanced to the WNBA Finals where they would sweep the Chicago Sky earning Taurasi her 3rd championship. Taurasi also ended up winning WNBA Finals MVP for the second time in her career.

On February 3, 2015, Taurasi announced that she would sit out the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian Premier League team, UMMC Ekaterinburg. The team offered Taurasi to pay her more than her WNBA salary to skip the 2015 WNBA season. For the 2014 WNBA season, Taurasi made just under the league maximum of $107,000. But she makes 15 times that - approximately $1.5 million - playing overseas. Taurasi will return to the Mercury in the 2016 WNBA season.[16]

Taurasi was recruited to play for the European team Spartak Moscow. The team had finished in eleventh place in the Russian league when Shabtai von Kalmanovich decided to buy the team. Kalmanovich was a successful business man with various interests, including women's basketball. He had stopped in to see a local women's basketball team in Yekaterinburg, and "literally fell in love with the point guard, Anna Arkhipova". He ended up buying that team, but later decided to buy the Spartak Moscow Region team, and turn it into a top team. He arranged to add a number of top-notch players, who had earned seven Olympic medals between them. Many of the players were European, but the team also included Australian born Lauren Jackson and USA born Sue Bird and Taurasi.[17]

The team would go on to win four consecutive Euroleague championships.[18]

On December 24, 2010, Taurasi's lawyers revealed that Taurasi had tested positive for a mild stimulant while playing in Turkish Champion Fenerbahçe professional basketball team. According to her lawyer, Howard Jacobs, the positive test came from an "A" sample, and that testing had been requested on a second "B" sample. Jacobs also was quick to point out that the substance Taurasi tested positive for "was not a steroid or recreational drug." Until the "B" sample can be tested, Taurasi has been provisionally suspended from the Turkish league.[19] In its own statement, the Turkish basketball association revealed that the WADA-list banned substance was modafinil.[20]

On February 16, 2011, Diana Taurasi was cleared of doping allegations. ABC News indicated Taurasi was absolved from all doping allegations and can rejoin her Istanbul team following the retraction of the Turkish laboratory on its earlier finding on the former UConn star’s urine samples.[21]

Taurasi was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. The event was held in July 2000, when the USA team defeated Cuba to win the championship. In the closest match of the tournament, the semifinal game against Brazil, Taurasi connected on seven of her eleven three-point attempts and ended the game with 26 points. She averaged 12.6 points per game and led the team with assists with 5.46 per game.[23]

Taurasi has also earned a bronze medal as a member of the 2001 USA Junior World Championship team,[27] and a gold medal as a member of the 2000 USA Basketball Women’s Junior World Championship Qualifying team.[28]

Taurasi was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009.[29] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.[29]

Taurasi was named as one of the National team members to represent the USA Basketball team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball.[30] This game replaces the normal WNBA All-Star game with WNBA All-Stars versus USA Basketball, as part of the preparation for the FIBA World Championship for Women to be held in the Czech Republic during September and October 2010. Taurasi was selected to be a member of the National team representing the USA at the World Championships held in September and October 2010. The team was coached by Geno Auriemma. Because many team members were still playing in the WNBA until just prior to the event, the team had only one day of practice with the entire team before leaving for Ostrava and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Even with limited practice, the team managed to win its first games against Greece by 26 points. The team continued to dominate with victory margins exceeding 20 points in the first five games. Several players shared scoring honors, with Swin Cash, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore, Taurasi, Lindsay Whalen, and Sylvia Fowles all ending as high scorer in the first few games. The sixth game was against undefeated Australia — the USA jumped out to a 24-point lead and the USA prevailed 83–75. The USA won its next two games by over 30 points, then faced the host team, the Czech Republic, in the championship game. The USA team had only a five-point lead at halftime, which was cut to three points, but the Czechs never got closer. Team USA went on to win the championship and gold medal. Taurasi led the team in scoring with 12.0 points per game and was second on the team with 23 assists.[31]

Taurasi was one of 21 finalists for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team Roster. The 20 professional women's basketball players, plus collegiate player (Brittney Griner), were selected by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee to compete for the final roster which will represent the USA at the 2012 Olympics in London.[32]

On July 2, 2009, Phoenix police spokesman Luis Samudio says an officer stopped Taurasi at about 2:30 a.m. for allegedly speeding. A police statement says the officer smelled alcohol and gave her several field sobriety tests. Taurasi was then driven to a mobile DUI van where she gave a blood sample, then was cited and released. Authorities later said her blood alcohol level was 0.17.[33] The Phoenix Mercury responded to this news by suspending her for two games later that month.[34] She however was named a reserve for her fourth All-star appearance that summer.[35] After extreme DUI and speeding charges were dropped, Taurasi pleaded guilty to DUI. She served one day in jail after a judge suspended nine days of the 10-day sentence.[36] The incident had a profound effect on Taurasi.[37]